


Gift Exchange 2020

by curl



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Light Angst, Skiing, Snow, Snow Storm, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28439811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curl/pseuds/curl
Summary: On her first winter vacation, Uma learns that she doesn't like skiing very much, but the trip turns out great nonetheless ;)
Relationships: Audrey Rose/Uma (Disney)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Gift Exchange 2020

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EVIESDRAGON](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EVIESDRAGON/gifts).



When Ben invited all his friends on a winter vacation in the mountains of Arendelle, Uma was not that exited, but she was not going to sit around in her dorm room by herself, so she decided to join them.  
However, when she was standing on skiis with shaky legs looking down the slope, she really regretted that decision.  
She didn't _have_ to get onto the ski lift and come all the way up here, but Mal had insinuated that she was too scared, so she really didn't have a choice, did she?  
So, she was standing there, gripping her ski poles tightly, while Mal had stayed behind way further down the mountain on a beginner's slope.

“Do you need help?” asked a voice next to her, and she turned her head to find Audrey looking at her with a reserved smile and her eyebrows drawn together ever so slightly.  
Uma's first instinct was to decline. She was, after all, not one to accept help easily.  
There was also the fact that Audrey looked so regal in her coordinated soft pink wintersports outfit with faux fur and lots of tiny white pompoms, which was a stark contrast to Uma's borrowed and mismatched clothes.  
Admittedly, she was less worried about their clothes and more about not wanting to look like a fool in front of Audrey.  
But the clothes didn't help.

Another reason why Uma came along on this trip, though, was Audrey, who had also been invited. She felt drawn to the princess - of all people – but had never quite found the opportunity to get to know her better.  
A situation where Uma felt more in control would have been nice, but this was her chance.  
So she tried to be nice.  
“You think you can help me?” she asked, although it came out a little more harshly than she intended.  
Audrey blinked, picking up on Uma's reluctance, but smiled through it. “My family goes skiing, like, all the time. I'm pretty good at it.”  
Uma hesitated. She was still not quite used to people offering help out of the kindness of their hearts, and doubts were always gnawing at the back of her mind.  
It seemed she took a second too long to respond.  
Audrey's smile took on something that Uma would almost call mischievous. “Don't you want to see Mal's face when you make it to the bottom in one piece?”  
Uma cringed inwardly, because Audrey had apparently not only overheard Mal's teasing but also seen right through her.  
However, a smirk formed on Uma's face, because Audrey was speaking a language they both understood.

Audrey instructed Uma how to position her feet, how to balance her weight on the skiis and how to slow down so she would make it down the mountain safely.  
Uma did fall on her butt a few times and she was embarrassed, but Audrey offered her hand, and her laugh was one of the sweetest sounds of Auradon.

Slowly but steadily they made headway, and Uma was starting to get the hang of it, but they had reached a part of the slope that was much steeper than the rest, and Uma looked down nervously.  
Audrey came to a halt next to her. “You're doing really well for your first time!”  
A part of Uma wanted to question her sincerity. Did she have hidden motives? What did she have to gain by being so nice?  
In Remedial Goodness 101, they had learned about kindness for kindess' sake, but it was all still a bit confusing to Uma. Especially since she had heard some not-so-kind things about Audrey.  
Maybe that was one of the reasons why she found Audrey interesting, as opposed to most other Auradonians.

The sky had been clear when they went up the mountain, but in the time it had taken them to get down little by little, grey clouds had started to gather.  
Uma knew she had no time to waste and no choice but to keep going right away.  
She took a deep breath. “Let's do this.”

She began her descent with all the confidence she could muster, but it vanished again in a split-second, when she lost control and started barrelling down the slope.  
In the distance, Audrey called out to her, but her voice was drowned out by the wind in Uma's ears.  
In an attempt to brake Uma steered to one side as best as she could. She was not going straight down, at least, but now she was speeding towards the edge of the slope and only managed to dodge a tree by a hair.  
The snow was significantly deeper here, so she became a bit slower right before her skiis got stuck and she flew face first into a heap of snow.

She took a moment to recover from the shock and catch her breath. When she got up, relieved that she was still in one piece, she could hear Audrey calling her name as she hurried into the woods after her.  
Uma patted down her clothes to rid herself of the snow. “I'm here!” she called.  
“Are you okay?” Audrey asked as soon as she reached her. “Are you hurt?”  
The worry in Audrey's voice was a small comfort to Uma. At least she was not going to mock her for making a fool out of herself.  
“I'm fine,” she reassured her.  
“..Do you think you can keep going?” Audrey asked, but seemed reluctant to even suggest it.  
Uma sighed. “Do I have a choice?”  
To her surprise, Audrey did offer another option. “Well.. I know a place where we could take a break. It's a short walk from here.” She looked around a bit and added, “I think.”  
Uma did not have to be asked twice. “Lead the way.” She knew that she had to go down the rest of the way eventually, but she was grateful for any excuse to put it off for the moment.

They slowly trudged through the deep snow for a while, their ski boots making it even harder to move forward. On top of that, the wind picked up considerably, swirling up the snow around them.  
As much as Uma hated this troublesome, freezing trek, she probably would have hated skiing the rest of the way in this weather even more.

Uma didn't notice the small building in front of them until she almost bumped into Audrey.  
“We're here!” Audrey yelled over the wind and proceeded to take the few wooden steps leading up the the porch, where she dropped her skiis with a huff.  
It was a lodge in the middle of the forest, but Uma didn't waste much time looking at it before dumping her skiis with Audrey's and quickly following her inside.

They were both out of breath. and it took Uma a few moments before she could get out words.  
“How'd you know about this?”  
“It's my family's.” Audrey took off her jacket and shook the snow off of it. “We used to come here all the time when I was little, but nobody's been here ever since my parents bought a new one.”  
Uma let her eyes wander around the room. There was a big couch with a matching recliner and a fireplace with a fluffy fur rug in front of it. On one side there was a small kitchen unit, and the floor, walls and high ceiling were all made of wood. Everything seemed quite dusty, but charming nonetheless. How wasteful it was to just abandon a place like this.

“Are you getting service?” Audrey asked, pulling Uma out of her thoughts.  
Uma turned to her as she was holding up her phone - to no avail, judging by the disgruntled look on her face.  
“I don't even have a phone,” she replied matter-of-factly.  
That made Audrey stop and look at her for a moment. “Well,” she began, “if we're lucky, somebody notices that we're missing.”  
The sarcastic undertone in her voice did not escape Uma. “You're a princess. They're probably already looking for you.”  
“Sure,” Audrey replied, but did not sound convinced.  
Uma drew her eyebrows together slightly. There was something up, but she decided not to pry, at least for now. There were more pressing matters at hand.  
“Let's just make a fire. We're gonna be here for a while either way,” she said.  
“It's an old fireplace. It doesn't have a switch!” Audrey said, visibly distressed, as though she was making sense. “We're probably gonna freeze to death!”  
Uma shook her head lightly, albeit with a small smile on her face. “Relax, princess. Making a fire is not that hard. Just see if you can find matches around here somewhere.”

Audrey did as asked while Uma took some firewood from the pile next to the fireplace and put it inside.  
They did manage to get a fire going with little difficulty, which seemed to put Audrey at ease, and they waited a bit for it to grow bigger before they peeled of their outer layers.  
Audrey dug out blankets from somewhere and they got cozy on the fur rug in front of the fireplace.  
This was definitely the most comfortable shelter Uma had ever been in.

The two of them sat in silence for a while, only the fire was crackling and the wind was howling over the roof.  
“I've never seen this much snow. Like, at all,” Uma said as she looked out the window. There wasn't much to see except white nothingness. It was not that strange to Uma, though, to feel cut off from the rest of the world.  
Audrey followed her gaze, scrunching up her face a bit at the sight. “Was there no snow on the Isle?”  
“There wasn't much weather at all,” Uma replied with a shrug. “Honestly, I prefer that over _this_.”  
“You know what would make this a lot more bearable? Hot chocolate,” Audrey said and huffed.  
The way her lips were drawn into a pout reminded Uma of the fact that she was still a spoiled princess.  
“Is this, like, you worst winter vacation ever?” Uma teased.  
Audrey averted her gaze, and for a moment Uma feared that she had upset her, but she looked up again. “Well, I guess it was pretty fun befor-”  
“Before I almost died,” Uma finished with a smirk. She sighed. “It's all my fault. I just _had_ to prove Mal wrong.”  
“Right, so it's actually _her_ fault! Again! What a shocker,” Audrey said.  
Uma snorted. She still had a light smile one her face when she contemplated for a moment. “Nah,” she said, “Harry made chicken noises at me too.”  
She really had no-one to blame but herself. Nobody made her do anything.

Uma turned her head to look at Audrey, although their eyes did not quite meet.  
“Are you still holding a grudge?”  
Still with a sarcastic undertone, Audrey replied, “What, just because she stole my boyfriend and is gonna be queen instead of me and always hogs all the attention?”  
They looked at each other for one quiet second before they broke out into laughter.  
When they calmed down, Audrey continued, “I'm over it. I mean, being queen would've been nice but honestly I'm kind of relieved that I don't have to spend my life with.. someone I don't really love.”  
“Then why did you start dating him?” Uma asked.  
Audrey gave a half-hearted shrug. “It just made sense. I was always expected to marry a prince, so why not take the most influential one there is?” She paused. “And Ben and I grew up together, so I already knew he was a good person.”  
Uma could only shake her head at the absurdity of it. “I literally grew up on an island prison but I gotta say, that sounds like you didn't have much freedom either.”  
Audrey's chuckle was bittersweet, but it helped her let go of a bit of the tension her memories had brought her.

“So,” Uma said with a sigh, “what are we gonna do now that we're both free?” Her choice of words was deliberate. She was up for spending more time with Audrey, whatever they were doing.  
“Oh, I'm on top of my schedule,” Audrey replied, faking enthusiasm. “Being a huge disappointment to my family?” She made a check mark in the air with a flick of her wrist. “Check.”  
Uma laughed. “Tell me about it.”  
With a soft smile, Audrey inclined her head. “What about you?”  
Uma pretended to think for a moment. “Absolutely no idea.” She was pondering how much she wanted to open up to Audrey. There was a feeling of mutual understanding between them, even though they could not be more different. “The Isle was awful in many ways, but at least I knew my place there. Here I'm.. a fish out of water.” She lowered her gaze. “And I had my crew, but they're all doing their own thing now. And that's great for them an all... but I'm just not used to it.” She let out a soft chuckle. “I never expected Gil to travel Auradon one day.”  
He had always seemed pretty content where he was.

Audrey opened her mouth, but she took a second longer to decide if she wanted to speak or not. “Why don't we do that?”  
Uma blinked at her. “What, travel Auradon?”  
“Yeah,” Audrey replied and tried to rein in her excitement about her own suggestion. “I mean, nothing's keeping me in Auradon City.”  
“Haven't you been everywhere already?”  
“Pretty much. But I bet it'd be fun to go there again.. with you,” Audrey said and looked at her with big eyes, nervously awaiting her response.  
Uma pressed her lips together to keep her smile from growing too wide.  
Their eyes met.  
“Sure,” Uma responded, “but let's say Arendelle was our first stop. I think I've seen all I need to see here.”  
Audrey chuckled softly and Uma basked in the sweet sound of it.

“You know,” Uma began, “when I came here I didn't think we would get along, but you're cool.” She nodded with approval. When she spoke on her voice was more soft. “I had fun hanging out with you today. Even this,” she gestured into the room, “is not so bad.”  
Audrey gave her a bashful smile and was unable to hold eye contact, which Uma took as a good sign. It felt like quite the accomplishment to make the beautiful princess flustered.

Audrey leaned a bit closer as though she was about to tell a secret. In a low voice she said, “I thought you were intimidating.”  
“Thanks, I try,” Uma replied with a smirk.  
More soflty, Audrey then said, “I had fun with you too.”  
For a moment or two, they just looked at each other.  
Uma's mind was racing, thinking about how many unexpected turns her life had taken so that she ended up here. Never in a milion years would she have imagined that she would find a companion in an Auradonian, let alone a princess.  
She had been curious about Audrey ever since she read her diary – which she would not do again, of course – but she didn't think that there would become more of it than a ridiculous fantasy.

“Oh, but the first thing we're gonna do when we get out of here is get you a phone,” Audrey said, snapping Uma back to reality.  
“Do I need one?” she asked.  
Audrey tilted her head as though the answer was obvious. “Of course! How else are you supposed to respond to my texts and like my selfies?”  
Uma wrinkled her forehead. “..I could just tell you in person?”  
Audrey smiled solfty at her. “That's sweet, but it's not the same.”

They were talking about all sorts of things, about their lives growing up, about Auradon, about their friends. Not too much about their parents and their expectations, though. They decided that was too much of a bummer.  
Audrey kept thinking of more things she wanted to show Uma, more ways to share her world with her, and Uma had soon forgotten that there was a snow storm raging outside. She wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere else.

There was a lull in the conversation. Not an unpleasant silence, though.  
They had moved closer together without even noticing, even though the warmth from the fire had already spread around the room.  
“Can I ask you a question?” Audrey's voice was quiet, so as not to disturb the peace.  
Uma turned to look at her to find her watching the fire pensively.  
“Shoot.”  
“On the Isle... do people believe in true love?”  
Uma shrugged. “Some might, but if they do they don't say it. It's pretty frowned upon.”  
Audrey finally tore her gaze away from the fire. “Why?”  
“It makes you vulnerable. On the Isle you can't – couldn't – afford that,” Uma replied. She herself had believed that too, although she had her doubts ever since she had found her crew. Caring for them was what had made her strong, after all. “Why are you asking?”  
“We grew up very differently. I'm just curious about someone else's perspective.” Audrey's eyes were jumping between different spots on Uma's face, as though she would learn more by looking closely.  
“Do you believe in true love?” Uma asked with a nonchalance that sounded fake even in her own ears.  
“I guess so,” Audrey replied, not trying to hide her uncertainty. “I mean, it's what I grew up to believe in.” She paused, and her expression turned almost apologetic. “I would like it to be true, but I've certainly had no luck finding it.”  
“That sounds like way too much pressure,” Uma said.  
Audrey let out a chuckle. “Yeah. I probably would've stayed with Ben just so I wouldn't have to deal with it.”  
A smirk formed on Uma's face. “Then maybe Mal did you a favor.”  
With a soft laugh Audrey shook her head lightly, followed by a sigh. “I think Ben's heart wasn't in it either. It was probably only a matter of time anyway,” she said with a wistful smile.  
Uma gave her a sympathetic look. “You people take this true love stuff way too seriously.” Her voice lacked the usual contempt she had for nonsensical Auradonian conventions. It wasn't Audrey's fault that she thought there was only one way to love.  
Their eyes met, and Uma wasn't sure if Audrey had come closer again.  
“You're probably right.. But what else am I supposed to do?”, Audrey asked in a soft voice, as though she already knew the answer but didn't dare to say it.  
“Just have fun,” Uma replied and leaned in a bit. “You don't always have to know where it's going.”  
Uma certainly didn't. Everything she did ever since the barrier was opened meant going into uncharted waters.  
They were only inches apart now, looking into each other's eyes inently.  
“What would people think?”, Audrey asked, her voice not much more than a whisper.  
Uma didn't want to burden herself with trying to unpack all that this question entailed, at least not now. This moment was just for them, not for anyone else to scrutinize.  
“That's their problem.”  
This must have been exactly what Audrey wanted to hear, because a light smile formed on her lips. And to Uma's surprise, Audrey was the one who closed the gap between them.

When Audrey's soft lips touched hers, Uma curled her fingers into her blanket, else she might have floated away.  
She stayed still and waited for Audrey to pull away first.  
When Audrey did so, she smiled sweetly and cast down her eyes.  
Uma almost had to laugh, because of all people, she was the one getting a kiss from a princess, and she liked it too.  
“If someone had told me about this, like, two years ago..” Audrey said, but didn't finish her sentence.  
They both giggled at the fact that, not long ago neither of them would ever have expected this.

Audrey leaned onto her, not too much, only so their shoulders were touching lightly, and told her more about the places they'd visit and the things they'd see.  
Uma suggested a trip to the Isle as well. She wasn't particularly proud of the place she grew up in, but she was proud of her ship and what she made of it. And it was sure to be unlike anything Audrey had ever seen before.

The storm had settled a bit, but they barely noticed. Audrey never even checked her phone to see if a message did get through.  
The sun was starting to set, and only then were they disturbed by loud banging on the door, and muffled voices calling their names made them jump to their feet.  
They hurried to the door, and in stumbled Mal and Ben and lots of snow.  
“There you are!” Mal said and threw her arms around Uma's neck, only to let go again immediately to look Uma up and down. “Are you okay?”  
Ben hugged Audrey with a little less vigor but just as much relief. “We've been looking everywhere for you!”  
“Until Ben remembered this place,” Mal added.  
“We're fine,” Uma reassured them.  
Audrey clutched her chest. “You've been running around outside during this terrible storm?”  
“We couldn't just wait around not knowing if something happened to you,” Ben said.  
Mal ignored the question, still too agitated to have a calm conversation. “I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have egged you on when I knew you've never skied before. It's all my fault.”  
Uma and Audrey exchanged a look, both trying to suppress a smile.  
“It's fine,” Uma said. “We've been holding out in here.”  
Ben had taken off his mittens and was now rubbing his hands together to warm them up. “Could we maybe join you for a bit? I'm not really in a rush to get back out there now that we know you're safe.”  
“That depends,” Uma replied and lifted her chin.  
This earned her confused looks and Mal asked, “On what?”  
Uma smirked. “You think you can conjure up some hot chocolate?”  
“That's a great idea,” Audrey said and gave her the sweetest of smiles.


End file.
